Jason Reitman: Up In The Air

"I didn't quite know what to expect from this interview," confesses Jason Reitman. The multi-award winning 32-year old writer and director may be secure in his ability to produce great movies, but he admits to being "scared" at the prospect of being interrogated by SuicideGirls.

It's taken us over a month to tie Jason down, during which time we've been communicating directly by Twitter and via his film and personal publicists. He's very much in demand right now. His first two movies, Thank You For Smoking, a satire set in the tobacco industry, and Juno, a dark comedy about teen pregnancy written by longtime friend of SG Diablo Cody, left indelible marks on the moviemaking landscape. Both films were unabashedly quirky yet each achieved mainstream critical and commercial acclaim -- and more importantly sparked a dialog about their respective subjects that reached far beyond the confines of the entertainment world. It's perhaps this capacity to make us think and to spark meaningful discussion that is Jason's greatest gift.

Though Jason grew up very much within the Hollywood machine (Jason's dad Ivan Reitman produced and/or directed an impressively long list of titles which includes the beloved Animal House, Ghostbusters and Beethoven franchises), creatively he's always preferred to walk the less traveled path. Intelligent and idiosyncratic, his latest comedy, Up In The Air, is no exception. Starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer who chooses air-miles over attachment and celebrates his solitary existence, the film (which features real-world characters cast from the ranks of the recently downsized) ultimately takes flight on a path that our Hollywood-trained brains may instinctively resist. However, with a nod to Jason's libertarian leanings, the choice is right for Ryan Bingham, and that's what counts.

Though Up In The Air has just gone on wide release today, it's already been nominated for six Golden Globes, more than any other film in the class of 2009. Consequently Jason's press commitments have just got a whole lot crazier. To compound the pressure on his already over-filled schedule, he's just returned from a trip to his Canadian homeland, where he and his dad (who co-produced Up In The Air) were honored with turns carrying the Winter Olympic flame.

We finally caught up with Jason mid-afternoon on Monday as he was heading over to a satellite studio for a live remote appearance on the Faux News show Happy Hour. Once on the phone Jason was beyond generous with his time, and over the course of two phone calls, one before and one after his TV appearance, we talked about the new movie, his affinity with its leading character, and a few other topics that only SG would dare to bring up.

Hit the following link for SuicideGirls exclusive interview with Jason Reitman.

Dita Von Teese: Stripteese

Dita Von Teese is one of the world's most dazzling women. The Swarovski-adorned mistress of striptease has done more to preserve and promote the hallowed art of burlesque than any other performer alive today. Her sexy and spectacular shows feature stunning costumes and larger-than-life props, but are always grounded in the purity of the classic art form. Thus they have an innate dignity that never relies on the kind of bump and grind sleaze that many of Dita's contemporaries mistake for erotica.

In a league of her own, the Michigan born and Orange County raised girl, who once had aspirations of becoming a ballerina, is an international glamour icon. Celebrated both for her performance art and her impeccable vintage style, her world-class status was sealed in October 2006 when she became the first ever featured headlining guest performer at the legendary Crazy Horse in Paris. She returned to the prestigious cabaret club in February of this year for a limited two week run which was so successful that she was immediately booked again for another series of shows the following month.

The hottest ticket in town, Dita's run at the Crazy Horse attracted such luminaries as Jean Paul Gaultier, Kanye West, Kylie Minogue, and Stephen Spielberg, among others. Her performances are as rare as they are exotic however, in part due to the time and expense they take to conceive. Fortunately those who are unable to witness Dita in the flesh have two new options. The first is a DVD of Dita's Crazy Horse show. The second is Stripteese, a set of three miniature flip-books books which capture individual facets of her repertoire and come packaged together in a deluxe gift box.

We caught up with Dita to find out more about the books and DVD, her new Opium Den set which was 4 years in the making, her plans for shows in Paris and Vegas in 2010, and her life in the romance capital of the world.

Hit the link to read my exclusive interview with Dita Von Teese at SuicideGirls.com.

Meet Dita at her two Los Angeles book signing events: Friday December 18 @ Hennessey and Ingalls at Space 15 Twenty (7 PM), and Sunday December 20 @ at Revamp Vintage (2 PM).

For more information on Dita's appearances, performances, books, DVDs and lingerie go to Dita.net.

XXXmas Fun At Coco De Mer

Naughty girls and boys in Los Angeles might like to head down to my fave erotic boutique Coco De Mer for some Sexmas fun!

They have some wicked reindeer, luscious elves and a saucy Santa to get you in the XXXmas spirit in their adults-only grotto.

To enter Eye Candy Land the store's owner Justine Roddick is asking for a donation to the Children of the Night charity (an organization which rescues kids from prostitution).

The grotto will be open to the public on Dec 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th and 19th between 5-7pm.

Dilana On SG Radio This Sunday

Find out what made Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana laugh so much by tuning in to SuicideGirls Radio this Sunday Dec 6th between 10 PM and midnight on Indie1031.com. You'll hear our exclusive interview and tracks from Dilana's brand new solo album InsideOut.

Images by Lena Lincovoi / RedAries.com.

Rocket

Went to see my friend Auren Suicide's band Rocket at the Viper Room on Thanksgiving Eve. The full-throttle, all-girl quintet have some friends in high places, having played with the likes of Butch Walker, Rancid, Sugarcult, OK GO, Morningwood, The Sounds, and Unwritten Law, to name but a few. Ultimate female rocker Joan Jett was also spotted wearing one of their Ts in a recent PETA ad. Go to Rocket's MySpace to find out what all the fuss is about -- and be sure to catch 'em live when they hit a venue near you.

Click HERE for more images from Rocket's Viper Room gig.

Dilana: InsideOut

Went to see Dilana's solo show at The Roxy on Sunday night. The should've been Rock Star: Supernova winner (the already forgotten Lukas Rossi won) released her debut album, InsideOut, via Kabunk! Records on Nov 17th. However it's her rendition of Harry Chaplin's 1974 rock classic "Cat's In The Cradle," which she performed on the reality TV show in the fall of 2006, that still haunts me to this day.

Tune in to SuicideGirls Radio Sunday on Dec 6th, 10 PM til midnight on Indie1031.com, to hear an exclusive interview with Dilana and tracks from her new CD.

Click to view more images from Dilana's Roxy show.

The Pixies And Thomas Dybdahl

Saw some great live music over the past couple of days. Thursday night I hit Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdahl's show at the Viper Room. The singer/songwriter is huge in his native country, and also happened to sing three tracks on one of my all-time favorite albums, Dive Deep by Morcheeba. Check out images from the show in my SuicieGirls photo gallery, Things got rather crazy at a post-show party at the band's swish Hollywood Hills pad. Images from the afterparty however are for my SuicideGirls friends only.

The next night I went to the third night of The Pixies three-night stand at the Hollywood Palladium. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of their seminal 1989 album Doolittle, the band played it in its entirety, then came back for an encore consisting of the various associated B-sides. Check out my Pixies photo album for images from the night.

Jon Ronson: The Men Who Stare At Goats

The Men Who Stare At Goats is a hilarious new film starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately, the true story it's based on is no laughing matter, especially if you happen to be a de-bleated goat housed in the U.S. Army's top secret Goat Lab or a guest of our government at Guantánamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.

The screenplay for the movie is woven around cold, hard -- and quite frankly bizarre -- facts uncovered by British author, journalist and documentarian Jon Ronson during his investigation into the U.S. Army's all too real paranormal activities, which he chronicled in a book first published in 2005. Though fictionalized, the script features whole chunks of dialog lifted directly from actual interviews Ronson conducted for the book with high ranking army officials and those who were trained by them as psychic spies.

Major General Albert Stubblebine III, who in the early '80s headed up the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command, a joint Army and N.S.A. clearing house responsible for gathering and disseminating intelligence, was one of the military's highest ranking proponents of supernatural techniques. Stubblebine, who was frequently frustrated by his lack of aptitude in the walking through walls department, was eventually forced out, but his dream of creating a superpowered army to defend the world's greatest superpower lived on thanks to the work of a Lieutenant Colonel called Jim Channon.

Disillusioned by what he'd seen and experienced in Vietnam, Channon had wanted to find a better, less lethal way of engaging in war. In 1977 he persuaded the Pentagon to fund a two year fact finding mission. During this time he visited numerous establishments that claimed to offer methods for enhancing human potential (including one in Big Sur that did this with naked hot tub encounter sessions). Upon his return, Channon wrote a blueprint for the next generation of soldier, or "warrior monks" as he called them, in a document entitled The First Earth Battalion Operations Manual.

The report detailed his ideas for the military application of a variety of new age techniques including telepathy, remote viewing, hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, and the use of music and subliminal sounds to alter mood. Channon's hippified vision of how to go about war, which included the use of special "sparkly eyes" greetings to disarm the enemy, was intended to create positive change. However many of the more tangible mind-bending techniques that Channon outlined were ultimately subverted by the military and used for torture and psychological warfare.

One of the army's more laughable attempts at co-opting Channon's ideas for darker purposes was their program to create telepathic assassins. The soldiers selected to hone their psychic powers in this way practiced their skills on a covert goat herd based at Fort Bragg that had been de-bleated to avoid rousing the suspicions of the local branch of the ASPCA. Though killing with a stare proved to be a somewhat challenging task, legend has it that a man named Guy Savelli did actually down a goat. But when Ronson caught up with Savelli, a civilian who was initially contracted by Special Forces to teach the mind over body martial art Kun Tao, the only proof of his skills he was able to offer was a somewhat dubious DIY hamster snuff video.

However, disturbing images leaked from inside Abu Ghraib and news reports of interrogation tactics used in Iraq and at Guantánamo Bay, involving loud music and fit-inducing strobe light inflicted over excessive periods of time, indicate that other psi ops methods, originally presented in a far different light by the likes of Stubblebine and Channon, have caused very real harm. Highly experimental mind-targeted tactics have also been deployed in a shockingly disorganized, cavalier and ad-hoc manner during various domestic sieges including the ill-fated 51-day stand off at Waco which resulted in 76 deaths. And it's not just terrorists and religious extremists that are a casualty of our rogue psychological warfare, which has caused a crisis of conscience at home that has over-shadowed the Bush presidency and threatens even that of Obama's.

I caught up with The Men Who Stares At Goats author and psychic spy expert by phone to find out more. Read my exclusive interview with Jon Ronson at SuicideGirls.com.

Art of Bleeding: Spirits of Safety Show

Went to see Art of Bleeding's Spirits of Safety Show at the Institute of Abnormal Arts in NoHo on Sunday night. The cabaret of the absurd led by former Cacophony Society leader Al Ridenour offered somewhat dubious healthcare advice and accident avoidance tips dished out by mascots RT the Robot Teacher, Dr. Moody, and Abram the Safety Ape.

A host of naughty nurses were also on hand in case emergency treatment was required. During the show Nurse Jezebelle (pictured), who specializes in breast examinations, gave a detailed demonstration of her skills, as did testicular cancer inspector, Nurse Alena. But it was perhaps Nurse Vulnavia's enthusiastic, hands-on kiss of life tutorial that proved to be the most popular of the evening's lessons. Wonder if Art of Bleeding offer HMOs? It'd sure beat my current plan.

Click HERE to view my Art of Bleeding photo gallery.

Diablo Cody: Jennifer's Body

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Little Boots (Big Talent)

UK's lo-fi gadget queen, Little Boots (a.k.a. Victoria Christina Hesketh), played a flawless set in front of a packed house at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip last night. It was only the second Los Angeles show for the British electropop sensation, who has gained a rabid following thanks to numerous DIY YouTube videos recorded in her bedroom studio.

Little Boot's debut album Hands was released in the UK in June 2009, rising to #5 in the album charts there. The infectious-as-swine-flu breakout hit it spawned, "New In Town," is featured prominently in Diablo Cody's new film Jennifer's Body. Catch it before it catches you.

Click HERE to view more images from the show.

CSI Creator and SuicideGirls Reach Level 26

Today Anthony E. Zuiker unleashes a new level of evil into the world. The creator and executive producer of the CSI franchise hopes that Sqweegel, the diabolical monster at the heart of his new multi-media project, Level 26, will slash through the boundaries of traditional crime classification and beyond the confines of the traditional publishing world. Bringing the novel into the digital age, Level 26 connects the printed word with motion picture elements and an interactive web-based social community. "I wanted to tell a story 'too hot' for television while at the same time giving the existing crime reader a different experience," says Zuiker. To this end Zuiker and SuicideGirls have teamed up to create some killer images (shot by SG co-founder Missy) to celebrate the launch of Level 26.

Click HERE for more info on Level 26 and the SuicideGirls photo set inspired by it.

Erika Jayne Album Release Party @ Coco De Mer, West Hollywood -- August 20th, 2009

Went to a sexy and elegant little soirée last night at luxury erotic boutique Coco de Mer. The party was thrown to celebrate the release of dance diva Erika Jayne's new album Pretty Mess (her singles "Give You Everything," "Rollercoaster" and "Stars" all reached number one on Billboard's Dance charts and are featured on the album).

Yellow Label Veuve Clicquot was flowing liberally as Erika's buddy Michael Des Barres read some erotic poetry in the store's garden, which set the tone for the intimate evening. Afterwards we chatted with boutique owner Justine Roddick (a like-minded soul when it comes to universal healthcare) and Michael, who's a big fan of SuicideGirls (expect to see him on SG Radio soon!).

Since Melrose Place is coming back to the small screen next month, I took the opportunity to ask Michael if we're likely to see him reprising his role as über villain Arthur Field. Apparently he had a somewhat mixed experience on the show first time around -- he told me he found out about his character's demise when he showed up to his own (fictitious) funeral on set. He holds no grudges though, and is open to a return to the show should the producers come a calling. And death has never been that much of an inconvenience when it comes to bringing soap characters back. "I could come back as a twin brother," said Michael with a glint in his eye.

Middle image: Jody Watley. Bottom image l-r: Erika Jayne, Michael Des Barres, Justine Roddick.

Click HERE to view image gallery from the night.

Scientists Conclude That Zombie Attack Would Lead To End of Civilization

A group of Canadian scientists have just published a paper detailing research on the likely outcome of a zombie attack -- and things are looking rather bleak for humankind. The team built complex mathematical models to forecast the spread of the zombie virus, and have concluded that an invasion by the walking dead would lead to "a collapse of civilization, with every human infected, or dead."

They predict that in a city of 500,000 people, zombies would outnumber the susceptible population in about three days.

"An outbreak of zombies infecting humans is likely to be disastrous, unless extremely aggressive tactics are employed against the undead," stated the researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in their thesis entitled "When Zombies Attack."

Since decapitation is generally considered the best way to deal with this specific type of undead plague, the team consider humanity's best hope to be a swift counter attack. "The most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often."

“Only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario,” the team warns.

Are you prepared?

Image: Mike L. Taylor (based on a photo I took at Fangoria)

Jeremy Piven: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

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Neill Blomkamp: District 9

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New Tales To Tell

On Wednesday night a rather eclectic selection of music enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the release of New Tales To Tell, a Love and Rockets tribute album which features an even more eclectic selection of covers by the likes of Puscifer, War Tapes, The Dandy Warhols and The Flaming Lips. The event was put together by longtime Love and Rockets friend Christopher "The Minister," who compiled and released the album via his new Swing House label.

Shepard Fairey, who created the cover art for the album, spun an '80s themed set as the after-work crowd filtered into the courtyard of Space 15 Twenty. The newly opened Cahuenga Blvd. venue serves as an experiment for owners Urban Outfitters, who hope to create similar retail, gallery and restaurant/bar environments in other city center spaces where their core brand can mix it up with local artists and vendors.

'80s Flashback DJ Richard Blade was master of ceremonies for the evening, introducing local bands Astra Heights, Vex and The Invisible Humans. Man about town, Michael Des Barres, made an appearance, as did the man of the hour, Daniel Ash, who was closely involved in the New Tales To Tell project and is working on a new story of his own -- his first post-L&R-reunion single release.

New Tales To Tell was released digitally on July 28th and will be released physically on August 18. Daniel Ash's single (with Zak Ambrose), a cover of David Essex's "Rock On," is available on The Swing House Sessions Volume I. Click HERE for more details and HERE to view event image gallery.

SuicdeGirls Recreate The Erotic Art of Superman Artist Joe Shuster

SuicideGirls helped comics historian Craig Yoe recreate the secret fetish art of Superman artist and co-creator Joe Shuster at back room soiree held at LA's Meltdown Comics last night.

Shuster's erotic illustrations were originally published in 1953 in the under-the-counter comic Nights of Horror. The work violated pornography laws at the time, thus Shuster was unable to lay claim to this work. A spate of murders in New York lead to a crackdown on pornography in the city the following year. The publisher of Nights of Horror was arrested, and the comics were confiscated and destroyed. Thus the adult work of Shuster, which had always been done undercover, was seemingly lost for all time.

Then, about two years ago, Yoe stumbled across a copy of Nights of Horror in a dusty box on an antique book stall. Yoe instantly recognized the DNA of the draftsmanship displayed in the images. Further research into Shuster's hereto unknown illicit work opened the door to a twilight world of showgirls, mobsters, neo-Nazi juvenile delinquents, hate crimes, murders, court cases, and government enquiries held at the highest level.

Yoe has compiled the stories and images he uncovered in a just-released book, Secret Identity. Read more on Yoe's remarkable voyage of discovery in my interview here.

For images from the Meltdown event, click here.

SuicideGirls Bring the Secret Fetish Drawings of Superman Artist Joe Shuster to Life

Joe Shuster changed the landscape for superheroes. The bold lines and primary colors of Superman, a character he created with writer Jerry Segal, put other action figures in the shade. However unsuccessful legal action lodged in 1946 against National Allied Publications (a forerunner of DC Comics), who claimed ownership of the character, meant that Shuster and Segal missed out on the millions their character would ultimately generate. Worse still, to add insult to injury, following the court case, the duo were stripped of their byline by the publisher.

Shuster and Segal were never able to repeat the success they achieved with their Kryptonite-shy guy. In the era immediately following the war, America no longer felt the need for supermen, and their 1947 follow up, Funnyman, fell flat. By the early 1950s Shuster was reduced to drawing cartoons for cash.

Fast-forward to the mid-2000s, when a comics historian named Craig Yoe discovers a copy of the little-known underground fetish rag, Nights of Horror, in a dusty cardboard box on a book stall. Yoe thought the whip-wielding women depicted in the illustrations bore a remarkable resemblance to the nubile lines of the otherwise chaste Lois Lane. Further research proved Yoe's initial suspicions were likely correct, and with the weight of world renowned art publishers Abrams behind him, he set about compiling a comprehensive compendium of the illicit fetish art of Joe Shuster that had lain undercover for over half a century.

I caught up with Yoe on the eve of the West Coast launch of his book, Secret Identity, which will see several of Shuster's sexy panels brought to life with the help of SuicdeGirls.

Click HERE to read the exclusive interview.

Want to see Sash, Moxi, Adria and Zoli bring Joe Shuster's art to life? Come down to the West Coast Launch Party at Meltdown Comics (7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046) tonight, July 29th. The event starts at 8 PM. Secret Identity author Craig Yoe will also be there to sign copies of the book.

Click HERE for event info.

Richard Farrell: The Two Hour Orgasm

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Aimee Allen: A Little Happiness

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Torchwood's Eve Myles On The Irresistible Captain Jack

"If you were ever to meet a character like Captain Jack, I think the most monogamous woman in the world would probably go for him -- it'd be hard not to. "
Eve Myles (aka Gwen Cooper)

Gwen Cooper traded her ho-hum career as a policewoman to work as a professional alien catcher at Torchwood, an organization which legend has it is "separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations." Eve Myles, the Welsh actress who plays Gwen, in turn, has traded her life in very legitimate theater for one in the warped and sexy science fiction universe.

Torchwood is the adult-orientated spin-off from Doctor Who, the world's longest running sci-fi TV series. Created by Doctor Who writer/producer/guru Russell T. Davies, Torchwood debuted in the UK in 2006. Picked up by BBC America in 2007, it has since become one of the station's hottest properties to date.

In part that is due to the on-screen chemistry between Eve's character and that of her charismatic boss Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman). When the two aren't doing battle to save the planet, they're battling to resist their mutual compulsion to get it on.

At the end of season two Jack and Eve lost two of their colleagues. Season three picks up where two left off, and takes the form of an epic five-part mini series called, Children of Earth.

I called Eve up while she was on a promotional trip in New York to get the inside scoop on Torchwood's other worldly success.

Click HERE to read my interview with Eve which is exclusive to SuicideGirls.

Place Your Bets: Public or Private Healthcare?

Just returned from Vegas, a city that's been devastated by the recession more than most. At best employers are using news of the economic downturn to force wage and benefit cuts on their staff (the folks at the hotel I stayed at for example had recently kissed goodbye to their 401Ks and were providing stellar service with a gritted teeth smile for 10% less). At worst, companies have just let people go en masse.

I was there for a friend's birthday party. He's one of the lucky ones who still has a job (he lost pension benefits however and is being forced to take two weeks unpaid leave). Sadly many of his friends haven't been so fortunate. Some had not only lost their jobs but had reached the limits of their unemployment benefit and were taking drastic measures to make ends meet (one ex-insurance agent is now a stripper, another girl with an accounting degree does odd jobs for $10 per hour). Several were also facing the loss of their homes (short sale anyone?).

And with the maximum unemployment benefit in Nevada coming in at $362 per week, health insurance -- especially COBRA -- was way beyond their budgets. So you'd think public health insurance might be a priority for those in Las Vegas. You'd be wrong.

Here's the Top 5 Reasons Why the Public Option is a Bad Idea as expressed to me by the folks I met in Sin City this past weekend:


1. There aren't enough doctors.
2. My health insurance costs $276 per month so I couldn't afford a $200 public option.
3. We need tort reform first.
4. As it is doctors only get 60-65% of what they bill.
5. I can only afford catastrophic health insurance, so for all intents and purposes I'm not insured for regular doctors visits.


You might be forgiven for thinking that the above statements would be reasons for the public option, not against it. And that's what disturbed me the most. These otherwise intelligent people would make a statement that was seemingly pro-public option, then follow up with a passionate argument about how black was really white.

The only explanation for this confused thinking that clearly defied logic was the decades of brainwashing by governments, politicians and the "health" industry, which has falsely managed to equate universal healthcare with communism and lack of choice in most people's mind. Personally, I'd like everyone to have the option of health care that goes beyond mere emergency room triage. That to me is real choice.

But I guess these people were feeling lucky, since they were all happy to roll the dice and play the health industry's wheel of fortune game. You'd think they'd know better -- and that the house always wins.

Michael Moore: For The Love of Money

Michael Moore has just confirmed the name of his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, which will explore the evils of corporate governance. The Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker released a teaser trailer (see above) for the previously untitled film last month.

Capitalism: A Love Story is set for release on Oct 2nd, which marks the one year anniversary of the Senate vote to approve the $700 billion Wall Street bailout/rape/pillage.

Earlier in the year Moore had appealed for whistleblowers from the financial sector to come forward. It'll be interesting to see who stepped up to the plate.

"It will be the perfect date movie," said Moore in a statement released to the press yesterday. "It's got it all -- lust, passion, romance and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It's a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let's just say it: It's capitalism."

The Cove: A New Documentary That Exposes The Horrific Flipside of Flipper

The Cove is a new documentary that exposes the horrific flipside of Flipper. Shot in the historic town of Taiji, Japan -- which is the birthplace of modern day whaling methods -- the film follows activist Ric O'Barry in his crusade to save the 2,000+ dolphins that are captured and/or slaughtered in a remote cove there each year.

Before O'Barry became an activist, he was an unwitting beneficiary of the dolphin trade. A one-time dolphin trainer (the mammals are closely related to whales), O'Barry first made a name for himself in the 1960s working on the Flipper TV series. "I feel somewhat responsible because it was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion dollar industry," says O'Barry, who older and wiser is appalled at the idea of dolphins in captivity in zoos and amusement parks around the globe. He now works for the Earth Island Institute, trying to save these wondrous creatures from this fate -- and worse.

His undercover work at the cove, exposing the atrocious practices of the Japanese fishing industry, caught the attention of former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who directed the movie about O'Barry's work at the cove. Using high-tech hidden surveillance equipment, the duo were able to capture the covert activities at the well-guarded cove, that had – up until now – been hidden from world view. Even the Japanese dolphin industry it seems is aware that it must remain concealed if it is to continue.

At the end of the film, O'Barry storms the International Whaling Commission with footage from the cove that convinces many to disengage from the corrupt organization which sets whaling quotas which are intertwined with the issue of tolerance for Japan’s dolphin trade. For O'Barry, giving interviews in support of the film is the next step towards exposing the practices of those in the dolphin trade who are happy to perpetrate unmentionable cruelty and ply mercury laden dolphin flesh that in truth is too toxic for human consumption.

Click HERE for SuicideGirls' exclusive interview with Ric O'Barry.

Democrats Blowing It On Health Care

More from my favorite political columnist and voice of extreme reason, FearTheReaper:

It’s really quite interesting to watch the Democrats throw it all away. This time, they seem to think blowing the chance at decent health care reform will aid them in future elections. Or perhaps they have taken so much money from the health care industry that they don’t give a shit. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Fixing health care is the biggest problem facing our country. If we don’t do something drastic, it will completely destroy our economy in the years to come. As it is, we’re in bad shape. Democrats, specifically Senate Democrats, have decided to help the poor insurance industry out as much as possible. Es no bueno.

Click HERE to read FearTheRepaer's summary of the various sick options the Democrats are seriously considering.

Moby: Wait For Me

Moby could be described as a reluctant celebrity. He first found his way into the collective consciousness with the 1992 rave anthem "Go." In the faceless world of techno culture success remained within his comfort zone. For the remainder of the decade he released his increasingly hybrid electronic-based music with little fanfare outside of the dance world. His 1999 album Play, barely made a ripple in the ocean of record sales when it first came out.

However, after a series of high profile film, TV and ad licenses, Play was propelled into the mainstream and Moby into the media maelstrom with it. Track 5 from the album, "South Side," a little duet with Gwen Stefani, subsequently gained momentum, becoming an MTV staple for many months. It reached number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Modern Rock singles chart in 2001. Play went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.

As film director David Lynch succinctly puts it, "Success is just as dangerous as failure, maybe more." In the years since "South Side" graced the charts, Moby has not exactly been chasing similar commercial success -- far from it -- however many automatically assume he has. After all, money and fame are the goals of every artist right?

Wrong. Back in October of last year, when SuicideGirls last spoke with Moby, he told us he wanted his next album to be "a really emotional, beautiful record." Expanding on the subject, he continued, "I don't know if I will succeed, but my goal is to make something very personal, very melodic, very beautiful. And hopefully interesting at the same time." By these standards, Moby has indeed succeeded, his new album, Wait For Me, being all that and so much more.

But, since contemporary society quantifies success in commercial terms, it's easy for certain areas of the media to talk about Moby and his post-Play music in disparaging terms. It's understandable therefore, that Moby looked upon his looming press day in Los Angeles to promote an "introspective" and "vulnerable" record that's the antithesis of commercial with a high degree of trepidation.

Click HERE to read SuicideGirls exclusive interview.

Daniel Ash: Rock On

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Monsters of Heavy Metal Star In New Computer Game

The voice and persona of Ozzy Osbourne, along with several other monsters of metal, will feature in a new computer game called Brütal Legend. The music-themed action adventure will be released in October by Electronic Arts in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 formats.

The plot centers around the character of Eddie Riggs, the world's best roadie who works for the world's worst heavy metal band. Named after Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie The Head, Eddie Riggs is played by School of Rock star Jack Black, of the comedy rock band Tenacious D. His character roams a '70s rock fantasy land created by games legend Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango), doing battle with a motorcycle-mad bassist called Kill Master (played by Lemmy Kilmister) along the way. Lita Ford, Rob Halford and Tim Curry also feature in the game, which is played to a pumping metal soundtrack.

Sounds like it rocks but will you actually have fun playing the game? Click HERE to read SuicideGirls' Hit Play preview.

Happy F**King Birthday From Blue Shield

My birthday's coming up towards the end o' the month. On April 30th my health insurance company sent me a lovely letter to let me know that to celebrate my big day they'd decided to up my premium by $35 from $191 to $226 starting July 1st.

Then, a month later, they sent me another letter explaining that they were raising my premium again, this time by a hefty $65, just because they can, you know, for the hell of it. What a gift!

That's a total premium increase of $100 effective July 1st.

Think about that. My premium was $191. It's going up to $291. That's an increase of over 50% in one year.

Can you think of any other product or service that's gone up by more than 50% this year? In this economy? Have health care costs increased by that much in the last twelve months? Really?

What do I want for my birthday? Universal health care please Mr. Obama.

Otherwise I can't afford to get any older.

A Sick Way To Run A State

Last Friday folks were marching right outside our door in protest against the Governator's proposed cut in funding for AIDS medication. I meant to comment on it at the time, but the day, and the next several, kind of ran away from me, hence, precisely a week later, I'm typing this.

The move will essentially be a death sentence for the 35,000 Californians who rely on state funding for their HIV meds. As FearTheReaper succinctly put it in one of his recent posts:

"Shit, I'm sorry, but Republicans refuse to raise any taxes. Bummer you have to die because of it, but it's a moral thing. It would be immoral to take money that is not yours, sicko."

However, even if you're misguided enough to fall for the Republican anti-tax/anti-healthcare bullshit, this move still doesn't make sense. You might save some cash now, but, when these folks succumb to full-blown AIDS, things will start getting very expensive, very quickly.

This sick army of individuals will be packing emergency rooms with what should be minor ailments, like strep throat, colds and yeast infections, that their compromised immune systems will simply be unable to fend off. Too ill to work, they'll be relying on disability, and too sick to look after themselves, they'll be relying on social services. Eventually, they'll become so ill they'll have to hospitalized -- at our expense. And sadly, many will die really horribly -- and really expensively.

In the not-so long run, it'll be much cheaper to allow these people to live with their health intact with the help of state-sponsored prescriptions, but apparently that's just not the Republican way. I'm not sure what is anymore. I don't expect moral responsibility from the GOP, but there's not any fiscal responsibility here either.

Duncan Jones (a.k.a. Zowie Bowie) Talks About His NASA Experience And His New Movie Moon

Ground control to Major Tom, Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie) talks about his amazing new movie called Moon, which was screened recently for NASA -- at their request. Mining Helium-3 of the dark side of the moon might sound far-fetched, but it's actually something NASA's working on. Just watch this film before you volunteer for the low-gravity mining job though, since all might not be as it seems.....

When asked about the NASA screening in an exclusive interview, Duncan told SuicideGirls:

"We did a screening at the NASA Space Center in Houston and the beauty of it was that it wasn't a PR stunt, we didn't organize it. There's a professor at the Space Center who does a lecture series and he asked me if I wanted to show the film. He'd been reading online that we'd done this film about Helium-3 mining and that's something that people at NASA are working on. We went down there and we did the screening, it was a fantastic experience, and we did a Q&A afterward. They asked me why the base looked so sturdy, like a bunker, and not like the kind of stuff they are designing that they are going to transport with them. I said "Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things" and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, "I'm actually working on something called Mooncrete, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith and ice water from the moon's polar caps." So, it was great - they basically started talking amongst each other and I just sat back and watched them. It was truly an amazing experience."

The full interview can be found HERE.

New App Turns iPhone Into A Classic Star Trek Communicator

This not exactly legit app, which its makers, iPhone Savior, named the Star Radio Communicator (so it's safe to assume this is not an official Paramount-licensed Star Trek product), gives your iPhone the look of the classic communicator from the original '60s TV series.

According to Gizmodo, "the 99 cent app gives you a dialing interface to place calls from within the app, making you feel like you're about five seconds away from bitch-slapping a couple of Klingons."

Yet another reason for those that held out on buying an iPhone (like me) to get the 3G S.

Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low

There's nothing half-hearted about the new album from Marilyn Manson, The High End of Low, which explores love, hate, revenge, loss and despair. Off stage, many find Manson's passion disconcerting, but the singer/songwriter considers anything that veers towards apathy to be inherently "worthless." It's therefore not surprising to hear that during the recording process Manson pushed himself and his band to extremes, the resulting album returning him to the kind of form he's not seen in a decade.

Very personal lyrically, and more melodic than past efforts, the album is the result of the much-anticipated reunion of Manson and Twiggy Ramirez -- the pair's last studio collaboration being the concept album Holy Wood, which came out in 2000. The lineup for the album was rounded out by longtime Manson drummer Ginger Fish and producer/drummer/keyboardist Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails and Tweaker (who joined the band in 2004 when Fish was injured and moved from drums to keyboards upon his return to health).

The reunion with Twiggy wasn't the only emotionally charged ingredient in The High End of Low mix however, the period of recording, from November 2008 to January 2009, also coincided with the very public disintegration of Manson's relationship with Evan Rachel Wood, whom he dated following the failure of his marriage to Dita Von Teese. The 15 tracks on the album, which appear on the finished product in the order they were written, therefore chronicle Manson's emotional journey during this gut-wrenching time.

SuicideGirls caught up with Manson on the eve of a European tour to promote the new release. When asked about the album during our interview, it's hard for Manson to separate the music from the emotions and events that lie behind it. He also talks very candidly about the identity crisis that was sparked by this emotional turmoil, and his battle to figure out exactly who Marilyn Manson is.

Click HERE to read my interview at SuicideGirls.com.

Hanging Out With The Star of One Eyed Monster

Bumped into Ron Jeremy (see photo) at the Gavin Rossdale show at the El Rey on Saturday night. I've seen him out and about more times than I can mention (Ron that is -- not Gavin, whom I've only met once), but this was the first time I was able to go up to him and say, without a hint of irony, that I really enjoyed one of his movies.

The film in question is One Eyed Monster, a laugh out loud funny B-movie, in the tradition of Return To The Forbidden Planet, but with one big difference -- a 9 3/4 inch alien-possessed killer penis to be precise.

I have to say, it's all done in good taste -- albeit in the B-movie universe where the right kind of bad taste can sometimes equal good taste.

And I'm not alone in this opinion either, since One Eyed Monster has just won the, ahem, prestigious "Trashiest Trailer" honor at the 10th Annual Golden Trailer Awards. Ron Jeremy must be so proud -- no really, he must!

When is a book not a book? ...When it's an alternate reality game!

When is a book not a book? When it's an alternate reality game!

(And for that matter, when is a games columnist not a games columnist? When she's a character in a book writing real posts for a popular pin-up website).

Click HERE to go down the Personal Effects: Dark Art rabbit hole with author and podcaster J.C. Hutchins and ARG mastermind Jordan Weisman (creator of The Beast, I Love Bees and Year Zero).

Spymaster = Spammaster = WTF??

This is for every Twitter user who feels violated by friends who play Spymaster.

(I have 14 Spymaster direct messages clogging up my inbox so far....Ugh!)

Sonia Sotomayor = Sweet GOP Self-Destruction

More from FearTheReaper, my favorite political columnist and voice of extreme reason:

I was very sad to see Obama pass on my gay pick for the Supreme Court. I really wanted the Republicans to be forced to show their colors as they made homosexuality the main issue to keep someone off the bench. It didn’t happen. Fortunately, Obama went with a pick that is so politically shrewd it is astounding: Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Turns out she’s not white. After the dust settles, the Democrats will have created a majority for many, many, many years. Why? Because Republicans can’t stop their racist nonsense from spewing forth out of their loud holes. By the time this nomination process is over, America’s Hispanic population will be done with the Republicans for a long, long time....

Click HERE to read the full post.

LeMons: It’s like Burning Man with Rollcages

24 Hours of LeMons, an endurance race for cars worth less than $500, was started by Jay Lamm, in response to the elitist racing industry. “Regular racing had gotten way too expensive and took itself way too seriously, ” Lamm explains. “Anyone who thinks racing is going to be their career is probably high, but that's what racing has become by and large.” This year there are more than 10 LeMon races scheduled all over the US.

My buddy Heathervescent entered one of these races this past weekend. "A friend had an '83 Toyota Supra that had seen better days," says Heathervescent. "Rather than take it to junkyard for demolition, we took it to the racetrack to participate in the 2009 Goin' For Broken 24 Hours of LeMons race at the Fernley Raceway in Reno, NV."

Click HERE to find out what happened!